1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a vehicle switch arrangement structure and in particular to an arrangement structure of vehicle switches attached to a vehicle body panel in front of a steering wheel to operate lamps, a drive source, etc. In addition, the present invention relates generally to vehicle meter devices and more particularly to a vehicle meter device that uses a segment display to indicate vehicle speed, travel distance, etc.
2. Description of Background Art
Vehicles are known that include a steering wheel configured such that various switches such as a main switch, used to turn on/off a main electric source of the vehicle, and a starter switch, used to drive a starter motor and the like, are attached to a vehicle body panel in front of the steering wheel.
Japanese Patent No. 4,130,368 discloses a vehicle switch arrangement structure for a vehicle in which a steering wheel post covering a steering shaft of a steering wheel and an instrument panel on which the handlebar post is provided to project upright constitute a vehicle body panel in front of a driver's seat. In this arrangement structure, a starter switch, used to start an engine, and a slit, used to receive a portable key inserted thereinto and enable the operation of the starter switch, that is, a main switch used to switch turning-on and -off a main electric source of the vehicle are collectively arranged on the instrument panel.
In addition, there are often provided switches for lamps as vehicle switches. In the vehicle switch arrangement structure described in Japanese Patent No. 4,130,368, lamp switches are collectively arranged on the vehicle body panel in addition to the starter switch and the main switch. In this case, however, the arrangement relationship among the switches is especially not considered with respect to usability for the increased switches.
In addition, a vehicle meter is known for indicating the vehicle speed and travel distance by means of a segment display which combines lighting with extinction in a plurality of predetermined display ranges to produce a predetermined indication.
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-34163 discloses a vehicle meter device in which segments indicating “km/h” and segments indicating “mph” are arranged one above the other right next to a vehicle speed indication composed of a seven-segmented liquid crystal display. On the other hand, segments indicating “km” and segments indicating “miles” are arranged one above the other right next to a travel distance indication. This meter device is configured to indicate only “km” and “km/h” for kilometer indication and only “miles” and “mph” for mile indication, depending on the destination of the vehicle.
However, the vehicle meter device described in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2003-34163 has a problem in that a screen of the meter device is likely to be enlarged due to the necessity of providing both respective units corresponding to the kilometer indication and mile indication on the segment display. The position of the unit indication moves up and down along with switching of the unit indications. Therefore, the positional relationship between numerical characters and the unit largely changes so that a viewer may probably feel a sense of discomfort.